Rimahiko in Orlando!
by S.J. Baker
Summary: Highschool is over and everybody is off to Orlando for some summer fun! There love, lies, cheating and confessions! RIMAHIKO! PLEASE READ! rated T just in case. (In process of editing and writing new chapters)
1. Chapter 1

The last day of school was perhaps the only day of school when freedom was at its peak, although it doesn't help when you're a third year and you struggling to pass your final tests. For the past week, my nose was in every text book and note book I owned, trying to memorize the necessary information to pass English, math, science and of course my worse subject: history. And now the day was finally upon me. I had already finished my English and math tests and barely passed them but the last day was saved for the worst; science and history.

I was shaking as I rode the train to school, my fear was riding on whether I would pass the test or not. But my mind also wandered off and started thinking about what I would do _after_ school was over. I no longer had to go to school and I was going to give it a while before I took any college entrance exam.

I thought about a vacation of some sort, there's a pretty wide opening for what an eighteen-year-old could do on vacation. I thought about going on the third year trip to Okinawa, but it was a little late to sign up for it, plus it was relatively short for a vacation; three days was not enough to satisfy my need for a break.

I needed something longer and farther away.

When the train stopped, my nerves got back to me and I started tugging on my long dirty blonde hair as I walked up to the high school building of Seiyo. My eyes combed the crowd for my friends; it would be nice to receive some moral support before I take a test.

After a good pre-test conversation with my friends, the bell rang, and I walked to my classroom (read: execution).

I was trying best to keep my mind of my finals, but they kept popping back up in my head in the worst sort of way. I would have dozens of vivid visions of a blazing red F on the top of my final exams. But I had studies plenty, or at least I felt like I did. I didn't see Amu until I arrived at my homeroom, but I avoided talking to her because I didn't want to get in trouble on the last day of school.

The teacher took roll and began passing out our tests.

"Ok class, begin," the teacher's voice snapped me out of another one of my horrible visions in which I fail. The familiar sound of pencil lead scraping against paper sounded up and echoed off the wooden walls. The noise eventually reached me, reminding me to get started on my final. I finished the science test quickly and handed it to the teacher and I patiently waited for my last final to begin.

"When you're done, you can come and get your history test." The teacher spoke behind a wall of stacked papers and pointed at the pristine and unwritten on history tests.

It had taken me twice as long to get through the history test. I had encountered question after question after question until I finally reached a blank page. I sighed with relief as I forced my feet to march to the teacher's desk and give him my test.

When I returned to my desk, a neat, folded piece of paper was sitting on my chair. I unfolded it and Amu's handwriting was scribbled in pink ink.

_Guess where we're going for vacation? _

I had been informed by the school that the 3rd years would be going on vacation to Okinawa for several days. I didn't understand why Amu would want to tell something I already knew. I wrote back: _I don't know, Okinawa?_

She quickly read my writing and wrote back to me, trying to calmly toss the note to me so it would not attract the attention of our teacher.

_Nope! America! Orlando, Florida! _

_I thought that the 3rd years were going to Okinawa for vacation_.

As soon as I handed her the paper back she started scrawling on it as quickly as she could, as if the ink in her pen couldn't come out fast enough. _Nope! Utau's going on her World tour and she invited her friends to go with her. Aren't you excited!?_

I must admit, the exclamation points were convincing, but one thing kept me from being excited. _Does that purple-haired thing fall under the friend category? _I made my handwriting as legible as possible.

_Of course he falls under that category. Meet at my place later today, Utau will give us the details. _I received the paper just as the bell rang, releasing us to endless freedom. I shoved the paper in my pocket, a hopeful reminder to throw it away later.

After the wave of too excited teens got out of school for their vacation, I headed to my locker. I had emptied it out previously that day, but I caught one last glance at it before I slammed it shut for the last time.

I exited the school confidently and headed toward the subway. The weather was utterly perfect; it was a mixture between spring and summer. The trees still had a few blossoms left and the air was hot with the occasional cool breeze, it was perfect. As I walked to the station, my mind had wandered off and started thinking about the sudden vacation plans that Amu had sprung on me not even two hours ago. I was excited to go because it was a _lot_ farther away than Okinawa and we were possibly staying longer. Also I got to ride on a plane which I had never done before. The only thing I wasn't excited about was that his-purple-haired majesty was joining us and as much as it seemed petty to still argue with him, I didn't like the fact that I would have to spend an extended amount of time with him. There was just something about him that aggravated me, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I shrugged my thoughts off and kept walking.

**Update number 1! There many more to come, and I'm sorry if this chapter isn't appealing but I did my best to make it sound more realistic. **

**Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

I had no idea what Amu meant by 'later' in her notes to me. Typically, in best friend code, 'later' means later that day. But I wasn't sure, so after I arrived home, I hopped back on the subway and headed to Amu's place.

Amu didn't necessarily have her own place, she just lived with Ikuto. She moved out the second she turned eighteen so that she could live with him. I liked living with my mother, but Amu really became independent after everyone got to middle school. She was happy though, so I didn't bother her about it.

"Amu's" place was a tiny two-bedroom apartment that wasn't too far from my house, but far enough that I had to take the train to get there.

I walked from the train station, across the complex's parking lot, up the stairs to the second floor and knocked on the door.

Except that Yaya beat me to it and swung open the door the second I was about to knock.

"Yaya saw you from the window and decided that I would scare you!" Yaya managed to squeal out in her childish third person voice through fits of laughter.

"Y-yeah, you got me," I stuttered, squeezing in Amu's apartment. I noticed that everyone else was already and the "later" did mean that afternoon.

"Attention, attention!" Utau shouted as soon as I entered the room. She stood on a coffee table to get everyone's attention. "Listen close because I am _not_going to repeat myself. All of you are flying first class to Orlando, Florida to celebrate the start of my American tour. We will stay at a five-star hotel and all of you will receive two week passes to Disney World and Universal Studios. Any complaints, comments or questions?" Utau gave a sly smile; her words had intrigued everyone. Even I was beginning to become antsy (like I said, I was eager for a vacation).

A voice spoke up. "When do we leave?" I think it was Tadase.

"Tomorrow." Was all Utau said before she started handing out air plane tickets.

_Tomorrow_ was a bit sudden, that wasn't a lot of time to pack. Utau handed me my ticket while explaining that each of us had a seat buddy. My ticket read: **Seat 12B Flight 87 to Orlando Florida Departure: Thursday 7: 15 pm Arrival: Thursday 8:09 am. **I had to give myself a second to think about leaving on a Thursday and arriving on a Thursday, but then I remember the mysterious science behind the International Dateline.

Everyone began finding their partner, as per the usual: Amu was with Ikuto, Yaya was with Kairi, Utau was with Kukai (like we all saw that one coming), and Tadase was by himself. I narrowed my golden eyes at the blonde who winked at me in return. She was playing matchmaker again, which only meant that I was paired up with-

"Rima?" a voice spoke from behind me, barely loud enough that I could hear it through the rambling of my friends. I turned around to see that none other than Nagihiko was standing behind me, his brown eyes beaming happily at me and his violet hair falling in a curtain behind his back.

"Nagihiko," I said bluntly then completely averted my gaze to the floor.

"I believe you're my seat buddy," he held his ticket in front of my eyes. I put my ticket next to his and my heart fell. Our seat numbers were right next to each other. I would have to deal with the person I despised most on an international flight. It was so tempting to just not go, but it was prepaid and I would _hate_ to upset Utau.

"Whatever," I said bluntly and rolled my eyes, shoving the ticket into my purse and abruptly leaving Amu's apartment to avoid any more air space with you-know-who.

I rode the train back to my house frustrated. How dare Utau put us in the same row together, she knows how much I hate him. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time this has happened. I briefly recalled the time Amu shoved us both together in a Ferris wheel or how we were locked in the closet together for seven minutes. I shook my head as the train stopped at my station; they really needed to get it through their thick skulls that we were not going to get together no matter what.

I knew that everyone wanted it to happen, but there was no way it was going to happen. I just didn't feel any sort of anything when I thought of _us_ in a romantic way. The thought of it made me want to gag.

I disliked Nagihiko for the sole reason that he tries to be buddy buddy with my best friend. Also for the sole reason of disliking him.

"I'm home!" I shouted as I walked in the door of my house. I waited for a reply and heard nothing. I noticed my mom sprawled out on the couch, deep in sleep. Not wanting to wake her, I draped a blanket over her and walked up the stairs to get in my own bed. I didn't even bother changing, I crawled under my covers and let sleep wash over me. I was going to need it, tomorrow was going to be a long day, and tomorrow night was going to be even longer.

Yay for updates!


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as I felt like a fell asleep, I woke up. That was the only thing I hated about sleep, that it felt like it only lasted a second. Despite feeling like I didn't get enough sleep, I still felt well rested and was ready for whatever the day brought.

Suddenly my mind was flooded with memories of the previous day. I had to pack to go to Florida today. Yippee.

I pulled myself from the cozy comforter and took a shower, letting the hot steamy water wash away any anger I might've had about the trip. After my shower I stumbled down the stairs, still in my tired stupor, to get coffee

My hands rifled through the cabinets, struggling to find the coffee. I gripped the plastic container and couldn't get it out and into the coffee maker fast enough. About ten minutes passed by before my coffee maker graced me with the rich brew.

With my coffee cup filled, I headed back up the stairs to the hall closet to fish out my suitcase.

I rolled my oversized orange suitcase into my room, tossed it on my bed and unzipped it. Before I even dared to open my closet or my dresser, I took a few deep breaths. I was going to need some sort of mental preparation to go through all of the clothes I owned.

It had taken me three hours to go through everything.

After debating over shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, bathing suits and other various pieces of clothing, I ended with six pairs of shorts, three skirts, and orange and grey bikini, two sundresses, and a party dresses. I had finally shoved the last of my clothing into my overflowing suitcase when my phone rang. As expected, it was Amu.

"Hello," I answered sitting on my suitcase that was surely going to burst any second.

"_Hey Rima, are you done packing_?" Amu asked.

"Just about, I still have to pack my carry on,"

"_I'm already done, but meet at my place at three. Utau says she has a ride to the airport. Bye. Don't forget to be here at-_" My finger hitting the end button me stopped Amu from reminding me to meet at her house at… what time was it again?

Three. It was three.

Although there wasn't much, my weight held down my suitcase while I zipped it shut before it could explode all over my room. I hopped off of my suitcase and moved on to my carry on. I gathered my laptop, iPod, a magazine and several of my newer gag manga and put them in an orange tote that conveniently matched my suitcase. After another shower I got dressed then encountered the fight that would be me trying to get my suitcase downstairs.

Then it suddenly hit me, there was no way in _hell_ was going to drag my suitcase all over a train station, let alone walk with it anywhere.

I quickly asked my mother if she would drive me to Amu's place. After some himming and hawing and a roll of the eyes she agreed then helped my get my behemoth of a suitcase in the trunk of her car.

On the way to Amu's, my phone buzzed. There was no doubt that it was Amu.

Along with the message that she just sent me was a stockpile of other messages she had sent me the entire afternoon.

**Received: 12:04**

**Are you packing yet?**

**From: Amu**

**Received: 1:37**

**Have you started on your carry on?**

**From: Amu**

**Received: 2:31**

**It's almost three…**

**From: Amu**

I shook my head as I tapped a response on my phone.

**Sent: 2:33**

**Yes I am done packing and I'm on my way.**

**To: Amu**

About twenty minutes later, my mom dropped me off at Amu's dinky apartment complex, grabbed my carry on, my purse and my suitcase. I did not bother with trying to drag the damn thing up the stairs so I left it on the ground floor and walked up to the second floor to see Amu. "'Bout time you got here," Amu huffed impatiently as she answered the door. Everyone was already there and ready to go.

"In my defense," I began and held a finger in front of her before she could say anymore. "My suitcase was a pain in the butt to get out of my house let alone out of the car."

"_Where __is_ your suitcase?" she asked, noticing that I had walked in her apartment lacking a suitcase.

"At the foot of the stairs," I shrugged.

"I'll go get it," a voice spoke and Nagihiko emerged from the crowd with a smirk on his face. He winked at me then walked out the door to retrieve my piece of luggage.

"Be my guest," I mumbled sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

_He_returned five minutes later and heaved the suitcase through the door. "What… is… in… this… thing?" he panted through each word.

"I have a lot of clothes,"

"Hey guys," Utau interrupted, "Our ride is here." She pointed out Amu's window.

Everyone collectively gasped then the room went silent.

"How on earth did you get that thing?" Tadase blurted, his magenta eyes widening with disbelief.

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out." Utau remarked, then threw open the door and ran outside down the stairs. Everyone grabbed their luggage and followed her without question. I managed to roll my suitcase out Amu's apartment door and somehow down the stairs. I made sure my suitcase wasn't going to roll away then I ran to catch up with everyone else.

I had only seen a limo one other time in my life, it was really old and it was nothing like what was parked before us: a hummer limo that was the Colossus in compare to the tiny cars in the parking lot. We couldn't pile in the car fast enough. The swirls of bright pink and purple leather on the seats made it even more extravagant. Everything was extravagant, the flashing of lights, the pounding music, everything except the minibar. The sight of it sent creeping chills up my back. I was known to get paranoid around alcohol and I knew I was supposed to be having fun with my friends, but it still made me rigid with worry.

"Utau… you _do_know that the rest of us are eighteen _right?_As in, not able to drink legally," I pointed out to Utau and everyone stared me down like I suddenly became the party pooper.

"Eighteen schmeighteen, it's not like anyone's driving." Utau said carelessly, and everyone nodded in agreement. I shrugged in reply, the pressure of my friends forcing me to join in on the fun instead of being a party pooper.

"What about our luggage?" Kairi spoke up, his voice barely reaching Utau over the music.

"Don't worry about it, Max will get them," she said, pointing to a man who was shoving our suitcases into the trunk of the limo "Shall we get this trip started with a bang," she said as she turned up the music and handed us each a small bottle of vodka.

I clutched the small bottle in my hand and forced a smile on my face as everyone opened theirs and took a sip. I _really_ didn't want to drink it. I hated the taste of alcohol, it tasted like bad cough medicine, and even worse I hated what it did to people, many a time I had seen the after effects of one too many beers on my parents. But there was the ever-looming pressure of my peers and I could feel it closing in like a box around me. Amu nudged my shoulder as she took another swig of the potent liquid.

"C'mon Rima, don't you wanna have some fun?" she asked me through a fit of giggles. "It's like your first vacation, ever! You _have _to have fun!" Amu ordered, finishing the rest of her drink and going to the minibar for another. Utau stopped her before she could figure out how to pry open the door of the small fridge.

Even though Amu wasn't entirely sober, she still had a point. This was my first vacation, first _real_ vacation. And I was a grown-up enough young adult that I could probably handle myself in the tiniest of alcoholic stupors. I looked around me once again; everyone was jostling in their seats to the beat of the music. Even glum and gloomy Kairi was joining in on the fun. I glanced down at the insignificant bottle of vodka and snapped the cap off and took a sip.

**Yay for edits! **

**Review if you would like. **

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	4. Chapter 4

I had tasted other liquors before like whisky or scotch or even Sake, but out of every alcoholic substance that had ever touched my tongue, vodka was the worst. It was all I could to keep it in my mouth. I made an ugly face, I scrunched up my nose and pulled my mouth into a knot, thinking that would make it better.

"You okay there?" Nagihiko asked me, grabbing my shoulder.

I shook my head and managed to swallow the small amount of liquid that was actually in my mouth. "No," I gasped, breathing in heavily. The air in the limo was a lot better than that rancid stuff. "That was awful." I coughed, closing the bottle and letting it fall to the floor of the limo.

"I guess it just doesn't agree with you," he shrugged and took another sip of his.

"Guess not," I mumbled then shuffled in my seat to get comfortable. I closed my eyes and felt my mind get swept away by the pounding waves of music. I was hoping that I could at least relax a bit before we got to the airport, but Amu kept tapping on my shoulder.

"Ri-ma"

"Rima"

"RIMA"

"What!" my eyes flew open to reveal Amu hovering in front of my face with a concerned expression.

"Your face is all red, are you okay?" I expected her voice to slur, but it was crisp as if she'd never drunken anything.

"What?" I put my hands on my face, it was like fire. I let out a yelp. "What's wrong with me?" I breathed, feeling the heat rise in my face.

"Calm down," Nagihiko said, only driving me to panic more.

"Why is my face all red?" I asked and the music ceased and the limo became silent.

"Let me see," Kairi interjected, crawling from across the limo to see my face. His forest green eyes observed my face then he spoke, "It looks like you're having an allergic reaction." He said and the panic that I was in began to fade away.

"An allergic reaction to what?" I asked.

"Have you had anything to eat or drink in the last hour, or did you put something on your skin?"

I thought about it for a second and I hadn't had anything to eat in the last hour at all, the only thing I had was—vodka. "I had a sip of that vodka, but it was only like a really _really_ tiny sip. There's no way it could've done this." I admitted and gestured to my crimson face.

"That must have been it, it will wear off soon, just don't drink it again." Kairi ordered then sat back down at his seat.

"You don't have to worry about me drinking that stuff again, it was revolting." I muttered to myself, then lied back in my seat and closed my eyes until we got to the airport, hoping that the heat in my face would go away soon.

* * *

><p>"We're here," Nagihiko spoke, causing me to stir from the kind-of sleep I was in.<p>

"Really, Florida already?" I yawned, "That was a short flight, I don't even remember taking off, or even boarding the plane. Weird." I grumbled and forced myself awake.

Nagihiko chuckled which caused me to open my eyes and see what he was laughing at.

Me.

He was laughing at me.

"You're funny, you sure you didn't drink any more vodka?" he laughed and grabbed my hand.

"Yeah," I confirmed, feeling my face to see if it was still hot.

"We are not in Florida quite yet; we kinda still need to board the plane." Nagihiko laughed.

The drowsiness had finally cleared from my eyes and I could see the interior of the limo. My shoulders fell, I guess I more asleep than I thought I was. "Can you please not tell anyone about this?" I asked quietly as I got out of the limo and followed him in the airport.

"Sure,"

As I approached our group of friends that were gathered at the entrance to security, Utau approached me. She grabbed me and gave me a hug. "Sorry about that vodka thing shorty, I promise I won't offer you alcohol ever again." Utau apologized then released me and rejoined the group that was waiting to get into security.

After an hour of standing and meandering and waiting I decided that I _hated _the airport. In the first thirty minutes, I felt like we had only moved an inch. But eventually we arrived to the place where we have to take off our shoes and any metal objects that we have on us. Which I must admit would go a lot quicker if we weren't standing behind some woman who was dressed head to toe in nothing but metal.

"It's about time we got out of there," I sighed as I pulled my sandal over my foot and caught up with my friends.

"I'm going to take a guess that you have never been in an airport before," Nagihiko said and raised an eyebrow at me.

I shook my head at his estimation. "Never, but I gotta say, I _never_ want to be in an airport again."

"C'mon, give it a chance, besides the only thing bad about an airport is going through security, the best part is yet to come." Nagihiko said and pointed out the tall windows to a plane that was the size of a small skyscraper.

I gulped. _I'm not entirely sure about _best_ being the right word to describe this_.

It was another two hours we had to waste before our flight started boarding. The guys went to go get something to eat and Amu, Utau, Yaya and I had a deep conversation about what the latest was in the tabloid magazines.

"Flight eighty-seven now boarding,"

We all jumped at the sound of the intercom, but we gathered our things and stood in line (again) and waited our turn to get on the giant metal bird.

Despite its huge size, the plane was actually kind of small on the inside; I expected it to be more like a small hotel. It was nothing like that. It was just rows and rows of small seats that looked to close together to be comfortable.

"Rima," I heard Nagihiko's voice summoning me as I stood in awe of the infinite rows of chairs.

"Yeah," I turned around, snapping out of my daze.

"Here are our seats," he said, pointing out a row of two seats that were a bit larger than the ones I was staring at.

"Why they bigger than those?" I asked as I pointed to the rows of smaller seats.

"That's because these are first class seats," he explained as I sat down and got comfortable. I was not familiar with the term 'first class', but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As soon as I sat down, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I yawned, not realizing that I had been so tired. I was eager to see the plane go off, but sleep was gnawing at my eyes. Before I knew, I was under the hypnotic spell of sleep. The last thing I remember was Nagihiko throwing a blanket over me and whispering "Goodnight."

**Yay! How do you like one of many new chapters that I am writing? I like Rima being allergic to vodka, it plays a bigger part later. **

**Anyways… Happy Summer Vacation! **

**And review please **


	5. Chapter 5

As I pulled myself from sleep carefully, I noticed that my cheek was rubbing against something soft, something that wasn't my seat or the mildly itchy in-flight blanket. "Why's it so bright?" I grumbled and my soft warm pillow chuckled as I spoke. My eyes flew open when I realized I had been cuddling someone's arm. I detached myself from them then faced the window so I would not have to look at who it was, although I had a pretty good idea.

"S-sorry," I stammered.

"Morning," A smooth voice replied. "Don't be sorry, it's ok, it was kinda cute actually." I turned around and saw Nagihiko laughing. The sun from the plane window was shining on him like he was an angel sent from heaven, I rolled my eyes at that thought.

"How long was I out, and where are we?" I asked, closing the window and sending Angel Nagihiko back down to earth.

"You were asleep for about eight hours. The pilot said we were over California about half an hour ago and said we would be in Florida in about four hours." My eyes wandered from Nagi's words, observing what everyone else was doing. Ikuto kept picking on Amu, who kept blushing harder every time he spoke. Utau was passed out on Kukai's shoulder while he played video games. Yaya was blabbering about the joys of sweets and annoying the heck out of Kairi who kept ignoring her by turning his music up louder. Tadase had his nose deep in a book, ignoring the rest of the world around him. My observing was interrupted by the growling of my stomach. "I'm hungry," I said my stomach continuing to scold me. Nagihiko pushed the stewardess button at the sound of my words. A short peppy blonde came rushing over.

"The mistress is hungry," he looked at the woman with a straight face and pointed at me.

"What can I get you?" she asked with an all too wide smile.

"Do you have any chips?" I asked.

"Yes," the woman nodded, "we have salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, and just salted."

"Salt and vinegar and a coke," I requested and the woman rushed away. "Mistress? Really? Are you my bodyguard now?" I laughed as a smile spread across his face.

"It was funny right," he shrugged and laughed too. The woman bounding back with my food two minutes later as soon as me and Nagihiko were done with our laughing fit.

"Thank you," I smiled to the woman who quickly rushed back to her post. I inhaled my chips and downed my coke in less than five minutes. I pulled my carry on out retrieving my manga from it. I quickly buried my nose in it. If I had three hours to waste, I wasn't going to waste it talking to you-know-who. Besides, I had my reading to catch up on.

I had just finished my manga when the airplane's intercom clicked. "It's seems we will be arriving earlier than expected. We will begin our descent in fifteen minutes." I opened the airplane window, shielding my eyes from the sun but then adjusting to the light. My gaze was intently focused on the ground and the lumped pieces of Orlando that would soon become buildings and bridges and cars.

I had never been out of Japan before so I was a little excited (okay, so more like a _lot_). My eyes widened when they caught sight of beaches and palm trees when the plane dove toward the ground. The plane bumped and jiggled as we hit the runway, my body was a jittery excited mess as we landed. When it stopped the intercom of the plane clicked again and the pilot bid us a farewell. "Thank you for flying AirJapan, we hoped you enjoyed your flight. Please empty your area of all belongings before you exit."

Before I knew it the impossibly tiny aisle in the plane was a big crowded mess of people that were more eager to get off the plane than I was. It was enough of a struggle to get my carry on and get off the plane in one piece. While finally walking down the long hallway to get off the plane I stopped in my tracks and looked around. The others were nowhere to be seen, I must have lost them in the insane hell of people that were getting off the plane. _I'll just wait for them outside;_ I thought to myself as I continued down the hallway and sat at the first empty bench that I saw when I entered the airport. The airport was even more hectic than the plane; people were scuttling about looking lost and people running to get to their plane on time. My eyes combed the crowd of people, searching for Amu's pink hair or anyone else.

Just as I'd given up in looking for my friends, someone approach me from me behind and startled me off of the bench. I spun around and was face to face with Amu. "Here you are, I thought I'd lost you!" She squealed and gave me a tight hug. "Where are the others?" she asked as her neck snapped in every which direction to look for our friends.

"Dunno," I shrugged and sat back down on my bench while Amu kept looking.

"Hey Rima," Amu suddenly said. "Did you enjoy your nap on Nagi's shoulder." She teased and made kissy faces at me.

"You are so immature," I laughed back, shaking my head. I was shaking my head at the fact Amu couldn't get her head out of elementary school, but it was partially true that I had enjoyed my shoulder nap, like I was going to tell Amu _that_.

Speak of the devil; Nagihiko came bounding around from nowhere. "Where's everyone else?" he asked just as the rest of our friends showed up.

"There you guys are," Utau spoke then without missing a beat, spoke again, this time ordering us to follow her. She turned around swiftly and started marching to the luggage terminal. The rest of us scrambled to gather our things and follow her.

After gathering our luggage, Utau dragged us through various parts of the airport until she came across a man who oh so casually held a sign that said "Utau". "Found our ride!" she said excitedly. The man led us out to a parking lot that was filled to the gills in cars and limos.

As we all piled in the limo, I began to ponder where we were going. Florida, and more specifically, Orlando was known for its wide collection of five-star hotels. Utau could've referred to any number of them. When all of us were finally snuggled up against each other in the limo, I raised my voice "Utau, what hotel are we going to?"

"You'll see," she winked and her lips drew up into a mischievous smile.

"Utau," I heard Ikuto mutter breathlessly. "H-how did you afford this place?" I concurred with Ikuto. The limo pulled up to what was the equivalent to a modern day castle. The building towered over us and made each and every one of our jaws drop in awe. What definitely caught my eye was the fountain in front made entirely of guitars and the sign the glittered on the building and read "Hard Rock Hotel". I raised an eye brow at the sign, I knew that I'd heard of the name "Hard Rock" before, I was pretty sure that it was famous in America.

"Like I said," she shrugged, "It's called being famous." She replied then went running inside.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly welcome you to the famous Hard Rock Hotel." Utau spoke proudly, flailing her arms about and pointing to everything interesting she saw. The inside was even more breath taking than the outside. The white tile floors spelled out "Hard Rock Hotel" in them and all around the lobby were musical instruments. There was a drum set and guitar that had signs on them that pointed to the check in counter.

"Here you are miss, five king suites as you requested." The guy behind the counter said as he handed Utau a dozen key cards.

"Alright here we are," Utau said as the elevator dinged open. "Ok, so no surprise here, your plane buddy is now your room buddy, so yay." Utau waved her arms very "enthusiastically". The only thing I could think about after she spoke was how many ways I could strangle Nagihiko with the items in the hotel.

Let's see, there was sheets, pillows, chairs-

"Rima," Nagihiko interrupted my premeditation. "Do you want to go check out the room?"

I narrowed my eyes snapping out of my trance. "Don't you start with me," I spat as I opened to the door to our room.

"Wow," we both spoke in unison. I'd only been in a hotel maybe once or twice in my life, but it was nothing compared to this. A flat-screen TV sat in front of a loveseat and several other velvet lined chairs, there was a little table surrounded by chairs and desk with a computer at it. And of course there was the bed. This was a problem. What I expected to be _separate_ double beds decorated with pillows and blankets, there was _one_.

_One_ bed.

Meaning that the _two_ of us had to sleep _together_.

"This is ridiculous," I shook my head and threw my suitcase on one of the chairs that was by the table. "You know what this means, right?" I gestured to the bed as Nagihiko just shook his head. "This means that you are going to have to sleep on the couch." I ordered as I plopped on the bed and started relaxing.

"No, I will not be sleeping on the couch." He brought his eyebrows together and pouted like a child.

"Too bad, my mom says I can't sleep with boys." I laughed and made up an excuse.

Before I knew it, pillows were being catapulted from you-know who. "What- pfft- are- pfft- you doing?" I yelled through a mouthful of pillow.

"Declaring war over the bed, and by the way Rima, your mother is not here to tell you who can and can't sleep with." He said as he threw more pillows at me.

"Cut it out!" I grabbed handfuls of cushions and bed pillows and fired them at him.

"Fine, fine, but just let me sleep on the bed." Nagihiko surrendered, but gave me an ultimatum. I glanced at the loveseat, it looked comfortable to sit on but to sleep on I could imagine, would've been a nightmare.

"Alright," I muttered through gritted teeth and he joined me in relaxing on the bed.

For the rest of the morning, we slept off our grumpiness and tiredness in a torrent of couch pillows and luggage.

Updated version, yay! I've decided to actually make this fanfiction longer by a lot, I hope to have twenty chapters by the time I'm done editing.

Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

I shot up out of my dozed state, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. After my little nap and our pillow fight, I felt really refreshed, like I was finally ready for a two week vacation starting now. I hopped out of the king-sized bed and shook Nagi awake. "Help me pick up these pillows." I ordered and he started drowsily grabbing at the floor for anything that felt like a cushion.

"How long were we asleep?" he yawned, arranging the pillows on the loveseat.

"I think just a couple of hours," I yawned back. "It looks like afternoon." I said based on where the sun was outside and the fact that the pool was filled with a gazillion tourists.

"Do you want to go swimming?" he suggested and I nodded in reply. May as well spend vacation doing vacation-like activities, right?

I unzipped my suitcase and started rifling through it until my hands brushed across something that felt like a bathing suit. I pulled my orange and gray striped bikini and ran to the bathroom.

"Nagihiko, if you attempt to even _wiggle_ the doorknob, I will sever your head." I shouted through the crack between the bathroom door and the wall and I swear I heard him nod. I quickly slipped into my bikini and pulled my wild mane up into a high pony tail. I threw a baggy t-shirt over myself and opened the bathroom door.

The surprisingly cool room sent goose bumps crawling up my arms and legs. Although that wasn't the only things that gave me goose bumps. It also could've been that Nagihiko was lounging on the loveseat, watching TV, waiting for me, completely shirtless and with nothing on but his swim trunks.

"Umm," I muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Ready?" He asked and his question took several minutes to reach my brain.

"Yeah…" I spoke quietly, my golden eyes combing over Nagihiko's porcelain skin. His arms were surprisingly toned for someone who wasn't an active athlete. I could've swore that I saw his lips move, but I didn't hear anything come out of his mouth. "What'd you say?" I stuttered, ripping my vision away from him.

"Let's go," He got up off the couch and walked to the door, leaving me dazed.

"Yeah, ok." I said then followed him out the door and to the pool.

The pool was much more appealing when it was three feet away from it than it was from the eighteenth floor through a tinted window. The afternoon sun made the clear light blue water glisten and look unbelievably refreshing. The palm trees surrounding the massive pool provided the right kind of shade so that it wasn't sweltering.

However, all of the chairs that _were_ in the shade were taken, so I was stuck with a beach chair that I could've fried an egg on. I tossed my towel on it, hoping it would help. I still winced as I lay back on the chair. I ripped off the baggy shirt that I had on, slid my sunglasses over the bridge of my nose, and pulled out a magazine to read.

"You're not going swimming?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nagihiko raise an eyebrow at me. I shook my head and he rolled his eyes at me in reply then ran off to the nearest diving board.

As soon as Nagihiko pranced off to go swim, I started reading. I wasn't big on tabloid magazines, but the one I had was my absolute favorite, and for the sole reason that the entire thing was made up lies. I loved to see how creative they could get in making fun of Japanese celebrities. I had been giggling to myself for about ten minutes when something or some_body_ had suddenly blocked out my reading light. "I don't want to swim right now, Nagihiko." I grumbled, hoping that he would go away. "Urgh, _fine_ I'll go swimming with you." I hissed and threw down my magazine. My eyes wandered up the body of someone who was not Nagihiko.

"Umm," I stuttered, looking around to see if anyone was looking for someone. "Can I help you?" I asked, and looked up to see who it was.

His dark green eyes were breathtaking and they went perfectly with his olive skin tone. He had disheveled black hair that stuck out every which way and fell right above his eyes.

"Hi," he waved awkwardly. "Sorry I'm not Nagi-whoever, but I just saw your magazine and wondered if you were from Japan." His green eyes darted around as he spoke. My ears caught on that he had the most perfect voice, not _as_ perfect as you-know-who's, but it was pretty darn close.

I looked down at my magazine, the cover was in Japanese, but was it really that noticeable? "Yeah, I am from Japan, I'm just here on vacation." I confirmed and picked up my magazine so I could continue reading after the attractive stranger left.

Except he didn't leave.

He plopped himself down in the chair next to mine and continued to stare at me. "Can I help you?" I asked again, this time a bit of an edge to my voice.

"It's just _so_ cool, that you're from Japan. What's it like there?" he gushed, completely ignoring my question.

"Well," I sat up, trying to think of words to describe Japan to someone who had never been there before. "There's a lot of trains, and buildings, and cherry trees and pretty much everyone there speaks Japanese. It's also humid, like here." The stranger seemed to be entranced with my words, as if my crappy description of Japan was actually enough to satisfy him.

"I've always wanted to go there,"

"Yeah, and I've always wanted to come to Florida but you don't see me talking to random people about it." I pointed out coldly and the stranger looked taken aback.

"Well, if it helps, my name is Zach. You know, that way I'm not a stranger anymore." Zach introduced himself and grinned softly.

"Hi Zach, my name is Rima. Can you please go away?" I introduced myself then immediately demanded that Zach leave politely.

Again Zach looked taken aback. As if asking him to leave _politely_ was actually offensive. It's not like I asked to be bothered by a complete stranger.

Zach opened his mouth and began babbling again about how much he wanted to see Japan and his life plans of doing so. I only heard about every fifth word, I was too busy paying attention to the purple-haired wonder who was doggy paddling in the big pool. For a split second, he was kind of cute in doing so.

Then he bumped into a skinny tan girl who was wearing a neon pink bikini. He looked flustered and started waving his hands back and forth which looked like he was apologizing. The girl had a taut look on her face, her mouth was in knot and her eyebrows were drawn together.

The girl suddenly gestured to Nagihiko's hair then he made that face he usually made when he was arguing with me.

This time I was the one with a tight face, I forced my eyebrows together focusing my stare on the two. She, whoever she was, had absolutely no right in intruding on Nagihiko.

I got up out of my chair, completely ignoring Zach as he babbled on and walked over to the edge of the pool. I sat at the edge and dipped my legs in, it was incredibly refreshing.

"Nagihiko," I called and he came paddling over.

"Yes, dear princess." He said smoothly but sarcastically.

"I want to go back in the hotel," I ordered calmly and Nagihiko pulled himself out of the cool blue water and said farewell to the girl who squeaked "Goodbye," back at him.

"You okay?" he asked me as he toweled his hair off.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just there's a guy at my chair who won't shut about wanting to go to Japan and I'm afraid if I stay out here any longer, I will get sunburned." I explained and Nagi simply nodded along. I gathered my things at my chair as quietly as I could be without disturbing Zach who was still rambling.

"So," I began as we strolled through the hotel halls. "Who was that girl?" I asked subtly, trying not to sound too pushy.

"Just some girl I bumped into in the pool," he shrugged in reply.

"Ok,"

"Who was that guy you were talking to?" He asked.

"I told you, he just wanted to know about stuff in Japan, he wouldn't shut up." I snorted, expecting Nagihiko to lash out in crazy accusations.

"Ok," he replied and we walked the rest of the way to our hotel room in silence.

When we walked in the room, the air was cool due to the air conditioner and there was a note lying right inside our door.

"What's that?" I gestured to the neatly folded piece of paper.

"Dunno," he said as he picked it up and carefully unfolded the piece of paper and began reading. "Rima and Nagihiko, please come to the lobby tonight to discuss plans for tomorrow. Utau."

"Okay," I shrugged as I plopped down on the loveseat and turned on the television.

"I'm going to go shower," I heard Nagihiko shout as he slammed the bathroom door shut.

"Okie doke," I muttered to myself then got off of the couch to change out of my bikini.

As it turns out, my fair skin cannot stand sun for more than twenty minutes. Several patches of bright red showed up on my neck when I changed. "Darnit," I cursed, now I was going to have to find someplace to get Aloe. I changed into a light t-shirt and shorts so I wouldn't aggravate my sunburn.

Until the time we were supposed to go downstairs to see Utau and listen to her ramble on about tomorrow, I was going to relax on the couch and try to ignore the ebbing pain of my sunburn.

**Done! **

No worries, more to come, I will upload the next six chapters next Friday!

Review!


	7. Chapter 7

When the clock ticked to seven and the sun was beginning to fall behind Universal studios, Nagihiko and I headed down the lobby to meet Utau and the rest of our friends to discuss how tomorrow was going to go.

The lobby was dark, not like no one was there, but there wasn't a lot of activity. I guessed that Thursday wasn't really a day to throw a party in Orlando. Utau and the others were gathered around a large table in one of the restaurants that conjoined with the lobby.

"We're here," I greeted, sitting down at one of the chairs.

"Bout time," Utau snorted and rolled her eyes. "I was beginning to think you guys weren't going to show up." She pouted and gave me a wink. I narrowed my eyes at her, sending her my thoughts with my imaginary telepathy skills. _Perv, like we were doing anything._

"Shouldn't you get on with your announcement," Tadase groaned then yawned. "I'm exhausted." I wondered why then I suddenly recalled the rest of my friends being at the pool, I just didn't have the attention span to notice.

"_Please," _Kairi agreed, letting his head fall on the table.

"Alright," She began speaking, twirling her platinum blonde hair with her fingers. "So tomorrow is my first gig in America and it's at the Hard Rock Café which is five minutes away from the hotel. Also tomorrow, I plan to have all of us spend the entire day at Universal." She explained and everyone was slowly nodding their heads to her words. I was so tired I had to strain my ears to hear what she was saying.

"Ok," I heard voices around me mumble.

"Don't be a party pooper, tomorrow's gonna be fun." Nagihiko said as I looked over at his indulging smile, his brown eyes were hazy with thoughts. I narrowed my eyes at him as we walked back to the room, scolding him in my mind for thinking about someone else. _He's not supposed to think about you_ my mind reminded me. I couldn't argue with that logic, but it irked me that he was probably thinking about the girl he met at the pool.

"Yeah you're right, I'm going to get dressed and go to bed." I said quietly and headed for the bathroom.

I gathered my nightclothes and quickly changed into them. The weight of the day was finally hitting me and I felt like I was going to fall over with exhaustion. My mind was the only thing that wasn't tired yet. It was too wired with ideas on how to get revenge on the girl at the pool. I shook the thoughts off. "Why would I want to get revenge on her?" I spoke aloud. "She's done nothing wrong to me or Nagihiko." I stated but I still had lingering thoughts about Nagihiko liking someone else.

I walked out of the bathroom feeling more or less refreshed and ready for tomorrow. I was planning on heading straight to bed after I changed, but the volume of the television was distracting me.

"What are you watching?" I asked as I sat down next to him on the small couch.

"I'm not really sure, but it's kind of funny." He said then laughed at something someone said.

I wasn't entirely sure what the show was about, but after an hour I realized that it was probably about some brainiac named Sheldon and the antics/adventures he has with his lesser brainiac friends and some girl that lived across the hall.

We continued to watch it for another two hours, laughing like crazy at the sarcastic things they would say or silly things they would do. It reminded me of the shows I watched back in Japan except it had more of a story.

Finally the show ended and was replaced by some late night business. I yawned and got off of the couch and stumbled over to the bed.

"Goodnight," I yawned again, and crawled beneath the covers and let a well-deserved sleep wash over me.

"Night," Nagihiko said quietly as he turned off the TV and joined me in the bed. I was too tired to argue about anything, so instead of making some annoying comment about Nagihiko being a pervert, I just fell asleep.

**Sorry this is short but it's kinda like a two part chapter. **

**Review! **


	8. Chapter 8

I suddenly felt myself being forcefully ripped from my sleep and my eyes flew open. I blinked once. Twice. A third time and still did not feel the lingering lull of sleep calling my name. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. The soft light from the moon illuminated the walls.

I looked to my right and noticed that Nagihiko was in a deep sleep. He was tangled in a net of his own hair and was snoring softly. At least I had enough wisdom to put my hair in a braid at night.

I leaned back on my pillow and huffed. There was no way I was going to get back to sleep. I turned to my left and glanced at the digital clock, it read 2:05. "Seriously!" I grumbled softly to myself, making sure I hadn't woken sleeping beauty up. After ten minutes I got fed up with trying to make myself go back to sleep, I threw the comforter off of myself and got out of bed. If I wasn't tired then I was going to make myself tired. I tiptoed across the room and slipped out the door, making sure to grab a room key with me.

It was just me and the hallway, what a better way to make oneself tired than pace around a big hotel.

Pacing, in fact and despite popular belief, does not make you tired; it's just really _really_ boring. At first I was just pacing the hall, slowly walking up and down the wide hallway and watching the pattern on the carpet repeat for the umpteenth time. But after a while, I got tired of seeing the same carpet and wallpaper and doors. Then I started hopping from flower to flower on the cheesy pattern on the carpet. After ten minutes of that, I still was not tired.

I sat outside the hotel room, trying to think of another activity that would tucker me out.

Suddenly I just remember that the hotel had a cappuccino machine in the lobby that made hot chocolate. Something like that would make me fall asleep on the dot. I slipped back into the room, grabbed some American money out of my purse then slipped back out into the hall, undetected.

Just as I pressed the lobby button on the elevator, the sound of a slamming door echoed in the hall. I gulped, afraid to turn around and see who it was. The elevator doors opened slowly and I quickly ran in them and pressed the closed doors button as quickly as I could, trying not to lift my vision to the hall.

My heart started thumping in my throat as the elevator descended to the lobby. The doors creaked open, revealing the dark and desolate lobby. I clutched my money tightly as I walked toward the vending machines.

Just as I was about to put my money into the machine, I heard rough and heavy footsteps on tile. My heart thudded again and I suddenly hid behind the vending machine so that the stranger wouldn't find me.

"Rima, what are you doing down here?" Nagihiko's tired voice nearly scared me out of my skin.

I emerged from behind the vending machine, my knees shaking. "I—I couldn't sleep, so I tried to make myself tired by pacing around the hall but then I remembered that there was a hot chocolate machine in the lobby and I knew it would make me go to sleep so that is why I am down here." I hardly understood the words that tumbled from my mouth and by the look on Nagihiko's face, I could tell that he didn't understand them either.

"Okay," he said, a muddled look on his face. "Why don't you just get your hot chocolate then you can go back to sleep."

I nodded then proceeded to put my money in the vending machine to get my hot chocolate that my wired mind craved so much.

The machine creaked and whirred and two minutes later my hot chocolate was piping hot in a small Styrofoam cup. As I carefully sipped it, we sat at a small couch that was in the lobby.

"So…" Nagihiko began and I looked over at him, he had a curious and worried look in his dark tawny eyes. "Who was that guy you said was bother you?"

"Like I said, he was just some guy was blabbering on about how much he wanted to go to Japan." I crinkled my nose at the thought of his obnoxious spewing of words. "I could ask the same to you," I looked up at him and he blinked in reply.

"Like _I_ said, she was just some girl I bumped into while swimming around, it's nothing to get worked up about." Nagihiko was stumbling over his words, struggling to make them sound nonchalant.

"I'm not getting worked up about this, you're the one who asked me first." I pointed out and took another sip of my hot chocolate. The warm mocha concoction was pulling me closer and closer to sleep with each sip I took. "You know, with all this interrogation, one might think that you were jealous."

"Rima," he said through gritted teeth, I could tell he was seething with anger. "I am in no terms jealous, why on_ Earth_ would I be jealous. I have nothing to be jealous for! Do you have no sense of sight Rima? Can you not see that I am totally _not _utterly and head-over-heals in l-" That was all I heard before my eyes slammed shut and the world went dark and silent.

**How do you guys like that? Told you I was working on some new stuff! **

**Thank you for the review(s)! They motivate me so much! **

**Haha! Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

Morning came quicker than expected and it was an incredible struggle to get dressed and stay awake at the same time. In fact, it came too quick, the last thing I remembered was drinking hot chocolate in the lobby and talking to Nagihiko about… My mind couldn't remember what he was babbling on about before I passed out. He must have carried me upstairs, I looked at him as he was digging through his suitcase and made myself a mental note to thank him later.

I ended up wearing something simple, or something that didn't require a lot of energy to get in to. I wore light blue jean shorts and a bright pink tank top, I also pulled my hair into a high pony tail; it would've wasted too much energy to actually do something with it.

I stumbled down to the lobby, sleep was still scratching my eyes, although it doesn't really help when one is woken up at six in the morning.

"'Bout time you guys made it," Utau scolded as Nagi and I joined my impatient group of friends that were all wide-eyed, bushy tailed and ready for the day. Utau said nothing more and starting walking toward the front door of the hotel and we reluctantly followed her, not sure what was really going to ensue on this "wonderful" day at Universal Studios.

The first thing I realized while on our short walk to the park entrance is that Universal Studios' entertainment factor is nothing to be joked about. I thought, in my ignorant little brain, that Universal was just another American theme park in which there was only several fun rides and everyone was dressed in some sort of costume. I was wrong and the towering green coaster that was just inside the gate was clearly proving that.

"What should we go on first?" Nagihiko asked, causing me to ponder the same thought. The park had not yet opened and the only rides I could see were the green coaster and some large tower that looked like death.

I shrugged "I don't know, whichever one is cool."

"Okay," he said, then began looking around more, as if he would see the entire layout of the park just by standing on his tippie toes.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, the big brass gates finally opened and Nagihiko immediately grabbed my hand and began dragging me towards the towering green coaster.

"You know, on second thought…" I barely spoke before he raced to the ride, the wind whipping my voice away from me.

The line the ride was short, which I suppose was a good thing, especially since there were hordes of people at the front. The ride, appropriately named The Hulk, was a one-hundred foot tall death contraption based off of some sort of superhero to strike fun and thrill in Americans. The only thing it was striking in me was fear.

"This is going to be awesome!" Nagihiko shouted as he strapped himself in the metal monster.

I gulped as we took off. The coaster went upside down and up and down then up again and under a small cave that was under a big lake then it finally stopped. I put two fingers to my neck to make sure that my heart was still beating.

"You okay?" Nagihiko asked as we exited the ride.

"No," I barked, putting a hand to my head. That was too much for too early in the morning.

"Hey!" a voice caught me off guard. The voice did not belong to Nagihiko. I around to see who it was and saw a familiar face, an _annoying_ familiar face.

"Hi," I grumbled as blabbermouth Zach came running up to me.

"Who is that?" Nagihiko asked.

"He's that guy who was bothering me yesterday, his name is Zach." I whispered to him in reply.

"Hey Rima, didn't think you'd be here," Zach greeted me with a goofy grin on his face.

"So you're the one who was talking to Rima yesterday?" Nagihiko asked with false curiosity. It was all I could to not throw him in the lake that we were standing by.

"Yeah, she told me all about Japan," He said with his eyes wide with interest and a wide smile on his face. My annoyance was at the top level and I was about to walk away when another voice chimed in.

"Nagihiko? Is that you?" a girl spoke. She looked strangely familiar then I realized she was the girl at the pool yesterday. She had long brown hair that had an auburn glint to it, her eyes were a pale green and she reminded me of a human husky. Except that huskies aren't exceedingly tan and don't dress like they are going to a club.

"Avery, hi, I didn't expect you to be here." Nagi greeted and his face lit when he saw her. Anger boiled under my skin at the way he looked at her.

My eyes combed my surroundings until I found something that was worthy of getting my operation on a roll. "Hey Zach?" I piped up.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go on that ride with me?" I requested sweetly, pointing at the ride and pleading with my golden eyes.

Zach followed my finger and a wide smile grew on his face. "Sure!" he said loudly then grabbed my hand and began leading me to it. I looked back and saw that Avery—or whatever her name was—was leading Nagihiko to somewhere that was the complete opposite direction that we were going.

I apparently have horrible taste in rides because this one looked worse than The Hulk. It was a water ride; I did not notice this while standing a long way away from it. I just noticed something colorful that had characters and stuff all over it. This is not what I expected.

"I hope you love water rides!" Zach shouted as I got in the small boat that was carefully designed to make it look like it was made out of wood.

"I don't," I said quietly through gritted teeth. I suddenly questioned my reasoning as to why I decided it would be a good idea to hang out with Zach for the rest of the day instead of Nagihiko. Was it that girl? It must have been something about her that just made me so… The word was teetering on the edge of my mind but I refused to think about it. _No way._ My mind thought bluntly but then wavered toward the option for a split second until the ride finally reached its peak and went tumbling down a watery hill to my watery grave.

I opened my mouth to scream but it was cut off by a chilling wave of water.

"Wasn't that fun!" Zach shouted over the subsiding waves of water.

"No." I choked then my teeth began to chatter on account of I was soaking wet and freezing.

"Are you alright?" Zach's excited expression suddenly turned concerning.

No I wasn't fine, but I didn't need any assistance from a complete stranger. "Yeah I'm f-fine." I stuttered, putting my arms around my shoulders to keep myself from shivering.

Zach frowned and stopped in his tracks. "No you're not, you're freezing." He said, pointing to my shoulders which were shaking. "Here," he spoke then pulled a hoodie out of his backpack and draped it over my shaking body.

It was incredibly warm and dry and smelled roughly of coconut and apples.

"T-thank you," I said, noticing that I wasn't shivering as bad.

"No problem, where do you want to go next? Probably not a water ride, huh?" He asked then suddenly broke out laughing. I joined him with a chuckle then we continued walking throughout the rest of the park.

The remainder of the day was spent on several rides, one of which that actually scared me. I had heard of Harry Potter but had never seen the movies; the ride terrified me though and ruined my mind so that I would never watch the movies.

I learned that Zach wanted to be an author but still couldn't find the right idea to put into the form of a bestselling novel. He was in Florida to get away from his hometown in Ohio for a while. I told him my goals of being a comedian and that I just graduated high school.

"Well, you should really go for being a comedian. I heard you make a couple wise cracks today, you're really funny." He smiled, revealing a row of white flawless teeth.

"Thank you," I said quietly, unsure of what to actually think. Everyone knew that I wanted to be a comedian, but no one had ever told me that I was good at it or that I should go for it. We made it to the bronze gates and we watched the Friday sun hide behind the park, bringing the crisp Friday night air. "I better go," I mumbled and began to walk away then realized I still had Zach's hoodie on. I quickly took it off and handed it him then ran back to the hotel, just remembering that I had a concert to get ready for.

**How is that, huh? I like that I gave Zach a bit more character description, makes him seem a little less like a useless and spineless oc. **

**Thanks for reading! **

**Review! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Whoop!**

The sun had just gone down over the park when I got back to my room. The hotel alarm clock read six and Utau's concert started at nine, so I had plenty of time to get ready.

I started with a shower, it was exceedingly necessary since I got soaking wet with gross pool water on a stupid ride. The hot shower water made me melt and sent all the sludgy grossness of the park swirling down the drain. I was standing beneath the scalding water for a good hour before I decided that I was genuinely clean.

Then, of course, after my shower came having to pick something out. I didn't have much in the line of party clothes; I had a sparkly tank top that went with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and some glittery flats. I also had the dress that I packed because I was expecting a party, but as soon I recognized its presence in my suitcase, I regretted pulling it out of my closet in the first place. It was a short _short_ black dress that slightly glittered gold and had one strap that went over my shoulder. It wasn't that it looked bad on me; it was that I felt that I would be overdoing it.

I turned back to the more casual outfit that I had laid out and thought about how it would go over at the concert. I could picture myself getting odd looks as I walked into a concert with such casual wear on. I turned to the dress and pictured the exact same scenario.

It was a half hour before my indecisive mind finally decided. I went with the dress and the flats from the casual outfit. I would look formal enough, but also casual enough, it was the perfect balance.

I slipped into the dress then went back into the bathroom to get some form of covering on my not so flawless face. I put a thin coating of powder on and some pale grey eye shadow that contrasted with brown eyes, making them look like gold.

I examine myself in the tall mirror that was in the room. I twirled and spun and danced around with a smile on my face. It was a rare occasion to feel pretty.

"I think I'm ready," I muttered to myself then grabbed my purse and headed to the Hard Rock Café.

The Hard Rock Café was themed much like the hotel was, rock and roll. There was a small gift shop, a café, a bar, and a small stage where Utau was getting set up.

There was a pretty good crowd of people, although it was a Friday night, so a crowd was expected. My skin was tingling with excitement and anticipation on how Americans would react to Utau's music. It's not every day a famous Japanese singer has a concert in a country that isn't hers. I remembered her struggling to write new material for the tour and how hard it was to write songs in English, but she was eager to expand her audience and she pushed through it.

I clapped as the lights began to dim.

"How's everyone doing tonight?" Utau asked loudly and the crowd hooped and hollered in reply.

As she began her first song, I walked over to the bar and requested a drink. Something simple and of course void of any alcohol. "Here you are miss," The bar tender said as he pushed a tall glass of sprite towards me. I took a sip and lavished in the sparkly lemon lime flavor of it.

A tap on my shoulder interrupted my enjoyment. I turn around to see that it was Nagihiko.

"Didn't think I would see you tonight." He said then sat down on a barstool. "You look fantastic by the way."

"Thank you," I said quietly, my voice getting lost in a tangle of sound waves that were coming from the stage. I blushed heavily when I noticed that Nagihiko's eyes were still glued on me.

Then of course the perfect moment was ruined because that is how perfect moments work.

"Hey stranger," a sickening sweet voice greeted.

"Hi Avery," Nagihiko said back, taking his eyes off of me and putting them on her. She was dressed in something more casual than me, a blue silk blouse with a pair of black shorts that went above her waist and black wedges.

I looked down at my dress and realized that I probably should've gone with something more casual; I stuck out like a sore thumb.

Avery's light green eyes looked me up and down, making me feel like I was the inferior human being who had the nerve to wear a dress to a concert. She turned to Nagihiko and smiled at him "Let's go dance," she said then dragged him to the dance floor.

As I watched them fade into the crowd, I took another sip of my sprite, savoring the flavor. Then I noticed something strange. I let the liquid sit in my mouth and I analyzed the taste, it still had the pungent lemon lime flavor… but there was something else, something that tasted vaguely familiar. I almost pinpointed the taste when a voice stopped me.

"Hey Rima," I looked over my shoulder to see that it was Zach.

"Hey," I replied quietly, letting the worries of my funny tasting soda drift away in his dark green eyes.

"Do you wanna go-" he attempted to speak then got lost in his own words. "Sorry." He coughed.

"It's okay," I giggled then hopped off of my barstool. "Let's go dance."

I didn't know how to dance. At all. But the steady beat of Utau's music and the gentle look in Zach's eyes told me that it didn't matter. I was enjoying myself while I flailed around in a sort-of elegant way in my flats.

In the midst of the pounding music, I saw Zach's lips move but I didn't hear anything come out.

"What!" I shouted in reply, hoping that he would hear me.

"You look really pretty!" he shouted back.

"Thank you!"

Utau had several songs left and I was still dancing like a maniac.

I didn't know if it was the dancing or the heat of the moment thing, but I suddenly felt woozy. Like I had stood up to fast or something. My vision got hazy and my thoughts turned to jelly. I wasn't sure what was going on.

I heard the music.

I saw Zach.

I saw people dancing.

My head was so overwhelmed with so much going on; I thought I was going to pass out. Instead I just kept on dancing and having a good time. And I guess I was having _too_ good of a time because the next thing I knew I was locking lips with someone with olive skin, dark hair and deep green-

_Oh my goodness_.

My head snapped out of its fog when I realized what was going on. I pulled away from him, too stunned to speak. I put a hand over my mouth and started weaving through the thick crowd of people.

This vacation was not going as smoothly as expected.

**Yay! Update. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Heyo!**

Several jabs in my side woke me up from the nightmare I was experiencing.

"Huh," I mumbled as I sat up, looking around to see who woke me.

"It's about time you woke up; I almost thought you were dead." Nagihiko said, and sat next to me. I noticed that I wasn't in the bed but on the small and very uncomfortable loveseat. I looked down at myself. I was still wearing my dress and my shoes and my makeup; needless to say I looked like a mess.

"What time is it?" I yawned and stretched away the pain the small couch gave me.

"It's almost eleven." Nagihiko said, getting off the couch and going over to the king sized bed. I saw that all of his clothing was laid out on the bed in small folded piles.

"What are you doing?" I asked and raised an eyebrow at him.

"My laundry, I didn't realize that I had used up all my good clothes in just a couple of days." He shrugged then went back to folding.

"Okay," I said, pulling myself off of the couch. I was greeted by another wave of pain as I walked to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower."

The shower did well in washing off all of the yuck I felt from last night, but it was no use in helping me remember what happened last night. I took last night and spread it out into a series of events then sorted it out from there.

I went back to the hotel.

I got ready.

I went to the Hard Rock Café.

I ordered a soda.

I saw Nagihiko.

I saw Avery.

I saw Zach.

My sprite tasted funny.

I went dancing with Zach.

I kissed-

"Oh my goodness," I sputtered, stopping my thoughts. I jumped out of the shower and quickly got dressed, not caring what I looked like or even what my _hair_ looked like. I slipped some shoes on the headed out on the hunt for Zach.

_I need to apologize_. I thought to myself. I felt bad that I didn't have extraordinary feelings for him, but I still felt the guilty need to apologize for the idiotic mistake I made last night.

It was half an hour after I searched most of the hotel before I found him. He was sitting outside the NBA center sipping on a coffee.

"Hey," I greeted quietly and sat down next to him. He didn't make eye contact but he returned the greeting with a tip of his head.

"About last night," I began and he sighed heavily, as if he didn't really want to hear it. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen and I'm sorry if I offended you at all in any way shape or form." My shoulders fell as he sighed again.

"No," he stopped me. "You don't have to apologize, I understand. You didn't mean for it to happen, it's alright."

I shook my head at his response. "No, it's not alright, please let me make it up to you." I was halfway prepared to start begging. There was no way in heck I was going to let a stranger have a warped perception of me because of something stupid that shouldn't have happened.

"Make it up to me?" Zach asked, sounding confused.

"How about an apology lunch?" I suggested and Zach raised an eyebrow at me.

"An apology lunch?" he said and I nodded. "So… not a date?"

"Not a date." I confirmed. "Is Monday alright?" I suggested and he waited a few moments then nodded.

He took a long sip from his coffee then stood up. "I'll see you Monday for our not-date apology lunch." He winked at me then walked back in the direction of the hotel.

I wanted to walk back to the hotel too, but my stomach growled in protest and instead turned me to the direction of rows of restaurants. Smells of grilled shrimp, steak and fried fish blew in my direction, calling my name.

As I walked over to get something to eat, my mind wandered off and thought about Zach. He was still a stranger, but it was becoming more and more pleasant to spend time with him, even if bad things happened.

**This is short, I know, I apologize. **

**Review please!**

**This just in: I don't feel very well and I can't find the energy to complete the sixth chapter of this set, so that will be tomorrow. I am sorry. **


	12. Chapter 12

I woke up that Sunday morning surprisingly refreshed, despite the awkward air on Saturday and the even more awkward things that happened Friday. I was anticipating the apology lunch I agreed to have with Zach on Monday, but I had a day to waste before that. I apologized several times but I felt it was necessary to go the extra length to make sure he knew I was truly sorry for what had happened. But we both agreed that it was not a date.

Just a simple apology lunch.

I pulled myself from the knot of comforter I was in, careful not to wake sleeping beauty. Before I got dressed, I grabbed my phone and texted Amu, Utau, and Yaya, telling them to meet me in the lobby in twenty minutes. I slipped into something casual then headed downstairs for some breakfast and to wait for everyone else.

Through all of the insane noise I was making, I still had not managed to wake Nagihiko.

"He really is a heavy sleeper," I said to myself as I pushed the button to open the elevator.

It was twenty minutes after I ate breakfast that my friends finally showed up.

"Hey Rima," Amu yawned as she walked out of the elevator, followed by Yaya and Utau who both looked too tired for words. "Why'd you want us down here so early?" she asked.

"I don't know." I said without thinking. I hadn't really thought through about what I wanted to do, I just knew that I needed some time with my girlfriends. "How about we go shopping?" I suggested absentmindedly and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I've been meaning to buy a few things," Amu shrugged then we headed out of the hotel to our limo. The journey to the shopping district was short, especially since we were already in the center of Orlando. The drive gave us a small chance to see other things in Orlando other than Universal, like parts of Seaworld, some place that had monster trucks and all other kinds of buildings.

The limo finally made a slow stop at the mall. We got out and stared at the building in awe. I could already feel my wallet burning a hole in my pocket. I wasn't much a shopaholic to begin with, but I shivered at the sight of Michael Kors, Gucci, Chanel, and Coach. It was all I could to not go running off and spend every penny I owned.

Most of our time at the mall was spent in silence, perusing sunglasses, fawning over shoes and fainting over purses and when the time was right we snapped out of our trances and spoke to one another.

"This is amazing," Yaya gasped as she walked past another rack of clothes that appealed to her cute style.

"Isn't it," Utau spoke, almost sounding like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. As someone who was famous, it was almost expected of her to wear designer, but now she was at the source of fashion. I could tell it was a bit overwhelming for her, especially since Utau got most of her things from her manager who shopped for her.

I had just passed another rack of skirts when my stomach grumbled. I glanced at the skirts then at my stomach. I decided that my hunger was more important than a cute piece of designer fabric. "I kind of hungry," I said, getting the attention of the others. "Let's go get something to eat." Everyone nodded and we headed to the food court.

There weren't any familiar fast food chains in the food court so we settled on something called Chick-Fil-A. It wasn't anything to write home about, but they had killer milkshakes.

"So Rima," Utau began as she took another sip of her tea. "How are things with you and you-know-who?" she interrogated and I felt my face turn hot.

"Fine." I said bluntly through my straw. Things weren't necessarily fine between us and quite frankly I wasn't concerned with anything he was up to. It was none of my business knowing what he did in his free time or how he felt about me.

"You sure?" Yaya raised an eyebrow at me. "I can almost feel the awkward between you two."

"Yeah," Amu agreed. "You've been acting weird lately, does is have to do something with that guy you were talking to at the pool the other day?" I was surprised that Amu was so observant.

"Oh," I started, making sure that I had to word my statement carefully; otherwise it would've been used against me. "That guy, he was just some annoying freak who wanted to know about Japan." I lied and rolled my eyes.

"Liar," Utau said as she narrowed her eyes at me. "I saw you guys at my concert Friday night, clearly he's more than just a freak if you were making conversation with him."

"Well, whatever, so I talked with him. Is that _really _a crime? There's nothing going on between us. He's just some random dude I met at the pool. Nothing more." I explained, doing my best to clarify things.

"You know, that look on your face says otherwise." Yaya pointed out, causing my cheeks to flush red.

"There's _nothing_ going on between us, there's nothing going on between me and anyone!" I shouted, hoping that I would get through to my friends. Something was ringing in the back of my mind though, something having to do with an apology lunch. It almost made me rethink the "nothing going on between us" thing.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…" I hesitated. "Well…"

"Well what?"

"I may have… done something."

"Something?" Amu asked, looking confused.

"Yeah," I said, forcing the words to spew out of my mouth. "I kind of… kissed him."

They collectively gasped and had shocked looks on their faces.

"I thought you said he was just some random dude." Yaya blurted in disbelief.

"He was, or is, or I don't know!" I yelled. My mind was whirring and buzzing with thoughts on the subject. Was Zach _still_ just a random dude? Or was he more than that? I couldn't decide.

**So as it turns out… I was really sick and did not have the energy to get on the computer in the last few days. But as promised, here is the update. **


	13. Chapter 13

Sunday ended quickly and Monday came even quicker. Even though Sunday was filled with all sorts of gossip on Zach and I, but I threated Amu, Yaya and Utau with their lives if they told anyone. Amu and Yaya both swore up and down that they wouldn't tell anyone, but the look in Utau's purple eyes told me that she would break her promise as soon as she saw Kukai.

For the apology lunch with Zach, which was at precisely noon at some restaurant in downtown, I wore something subtle: a pale orange sun dress that went just above my knees with a pair of brown flats and my hair in a low braid.

I was all ready to go at nine in the morning, but since the lunch didn't start until a time that was reserved for lunch, I had several hours to waste. I spent most of it catching up on the reading that I meant to do on the plane. I flipped through the manga books and the magazines quickly; it almost felt like no time had passed at all.

I couldn't even pass time by bothering Nagihiko. He left before I woke up leaving a note that just said _went out for a bit_.

The rest of my time wasting was spent watching TV and thinking about where Nagihiko could've gone.

"He probably went out to see that girl." I huffed, but had no right to speak. I was going out to a not-date apology lunch with Zach. _What does he see in her?_ I asked myself but couldn't find the answer. Avery was pretty and that was about it. In Nagihiko's eyes she was probably drop dead gorgeous and funny and smart and everything that I wasn't.

Noon finally _finally_ rolled around and I pulled myself off the loveseat, turned off the TV, and headed to the lobby to go to lunch.

Zach had a car, even though I said we could use the limo that Utau allowed us to use. Downtown Orlando was busy as heck, there was bumper to bumper traffic and every single parking place was taken up. We eventually found a spot at the very top of a parking garage that was six block from where we were eating lunch.

"It's hot," I breathed, fanning myself to rid of the ebbing heat. We weren't even halfway to the restaurant yet and I felt like I was going to melt.

"Yeah," Zach agreed, then laughed. "Wait… aren't you supposed to be used to the heat? You said Japan was just like Florida."

I pressed my lips, forgetting completely that I had told him that. "I know, it is. And I never said I was used to the heat, I'd rather be in snow than in sun." I remarked.

"Is it ironic that you were in the sun when you told me those wonderful facts about Japan." Zach pointed out and I pressed my lips together in aggravation. For a second, he was kind of acting like Nagihiko. The kind of personality that likes to mess with me in a funny sarcastic way. The kind of personality that I loved.

"Oh, whatever." I laughed as we finally made it to the restaurant. Zach explained that it was one of those hole in the wall places that was really good. I couldn't deny that it was indeed a hole in the wall. It was a narrow building that was smashed together between two larger buildings.

But he was right, the food was fantastic. The food at the hotel was cardboard in compare to the delicious things that I had.

"How long are you staying in Orlando?" Zach asked as I took a sip of soda.

It took me a second to work out the dates and time of arrival and stuff like that. "I think we leave next Thursday." I estimated.

"That means I only have a little more than a week to hang out with you." Zach said and suddenly had a saddened expression on his face. I felt heat rise to my cheeks. _He doesn't feel _that_ way about me? _ My mind buzzed with the question. I didn't feel that way towards him… or did I?

"Thanks for the not-date apology lunch Rima, you didn't have to do that, but it was nice to spend some time with you." Zach said sweetly as we arrive back at the hotel.

"You're welcome," I said then waved him goodbye as I got in the elevator and headed toward my floor. I leaned back on the polished walls of the elevator and thought about what happened. My heart was wavering between two boys, and I think I was leaning more on the side that wasn't familiar.

**So as an apology for not updating when I said, you guys get an extra chapter! Yay! **

**Review please!**


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